All compensation claims have a time limit, that time limit tells you up until what date you can make a claim for compensation. All accident, injury and disease claims have a three year time limit; however in cases involving children, death and people detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 the limit differs.
A child’s three year time limit would begin on the day of their 18th birthday. This means they would have up until their 21st birthday to make a compensation claim.
If someone is detained under the Mental Health Act their three year time limit begins from the date they are discharged as a patient.
With death it’s slightly more complicated. If a person is in the middle of pursuing a claim when they die, the new three year limit begins from the date their death certificate was issued. This gives the family of the deceased enough time for them to continue with the claim.
The three year limit rule is extremely important in cases to do with asbestos related diseases, because with asbestos the disease can take 20-40 years to make itself known. In the most tragic of cases this is sometimes too late. If a person dies and it is not discovered until a post-mortem that they died from Mesothelioma then the family have three years from the date of the post-mortem to make a compensation claim.
For all other accidents the three year limit begins from the date you linked your injury to the accident. For example if you were involved in a car accident and a few days later started to develop neck pain. The three year limit would begin from the date doctors linked the neck pain to the car accident.
However any personal injury compensation claims to do with attacks or assaults have a strict two year deadline, this is justified in the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA).
If you would like to speak to someone regarding a compensation claim you should contact the Injury Lawyers. Our team of fully qualified lawyers will be able to give you guidance on what to do next and help you in the pursuit of the compensation you and your family deserve. Three years may seem a long time, but can go extremely fast. If you think you have a compensation claim it is best to contact us sooner rather than later.
